Tag: timecode

What are the essential elements of story and how do you learn them? One of my favorite ways of discovering story is to “beat out” a movie; find the important moments in a film and see how they build on each other. Here’s how I do it:

1. Study Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing so you can type without looking at your hands.
2. You’ll need to type and watch the movie at the same time so get a laptop or position your computer so you can type and see the movie on the big screen. Or do both by minimizing the movie screen on your computer.
3. Get a stopwatch or watch the time code on your screen.
4. Copy this list and have it handy on your screen as you write:

Major Plot Points
1. NORMAL WORLD the first 10 pages or so
2. INCITING INCIDENT around page 10
3. BREAK INTO ACT TWO around page 25
4. MIDPOINT around page 50
5. BREAK INTO ACT THREE around page 75
6. CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION between pages 85-95

Note that one script page roughly equals one minute of screen time, and that today’s movies run shorter than movies from the past, so the plot points might be at slightly different times if you’re watching an older movie.

5. You’re all set up. Start the movie and the stopwatch at the same time.
6. Type each major action of each scene in as few words as possible. When the action shifts, start a new line. Include all the time codes until you get the hang of it, then just write down key times. Include important moments of dialogue especially when they relate to the plot points.

NORMAL WORLD
NYC, westside. Meg Ryan’s apt, cam moves from outside, thru window, we see books, desk, computer, Meg in bed
– Greg reading from today’s paper: “solitaire removed from computers/ end of civilization.” Set up relationship
– Meg makes sure G is gone, sits at her computer, dial up sound, “You’ve got mail”
– 2:43 VO Tom writes about his dog Brinkley in an email to Meg, NY in the fall
– T’s apartment, his relationship w/ Patricia. HE sneaks around to make sure P’s gone, fires up computer/matching shots
– On computer screen: M writes to T, “oldest and dearest friends”
– 5:00 “three little words” matching shots as they walk to work missing ea other
– The neighborhood, shops opening
– T goes to new building, meets with manager. He repeats M’s words. Talks about his relationship: “Patricia makes coffee nervous.” Mgr: “They’re gonna hate us.” T “We’re going to seduce them”, “Fox Superstore, the end of civilization as we know it.”
-8:15 Meg opens HER store, employee: “you’re in love”, M: “no, yes!” Meg tells her about T’s story about meeting him online in a chat room, her plan to stop. Cybersex. “He cld be the next person who comes thru the door.” Time to open up!
11:38 Corporate meet with T’s dad and grandad. “Aw, another independent bites the dust.” Competition, T mentions the Shop around the Corner, “grandpa, you wrote her letters?” “Mail, it was called mail.” T: “You know, I’ve heard of it.”

. . . . . . . . . .
And so on. I clean up each section right after the movie is done while it’s fresh in my mind so I can make sense of my notes later.

Around 10, 25, 50, and 75 minutes look for the major beat. It’s like a treasure hunt. Movies I’ve seen a million times suddenly are “broken” and their secret is revealed once I’ve discovered their major beats.

How does this help you with story? After you’ve done even a few of these, you’ll start to see how a complicated story is crafted. You’ll see the Plot (the external story), and the Subplot ( the internal story) wind around and play off each other. You’ll discover the theme (the writer’s personal POV) and feel the tone that is so important to expressing that theme.

What I love to watch is the struggle each major character has, and how they use what they have inside themselves to solve their individual problems on screen.

What story do you need to tell? Are you writing an “About” page for your website? Instead of the basic job list, tell us a story, how you started in one profession, changed your entire world because of your passion, yet carried your first skills with you to solve problems for you clients.